Chapter 20 I am Shen Lianxiu

Chen Lianxiu entered the inner room, opened the small rosewood cabinet beside the bed, took out a box and a stack of white papers under the box. She also took a few sheets and then returned to the outer room.

Her memory was not good enough to remember everything she read, so she had to write down everything immediately and consolidate it. She originally wanted to take the books to the library and take notes while reading, but Chen Lianxiu was afraid that the pen and ink would accidentally stain the books, so she would write down as much as she could after returning. She had already cut some letter paper and put it in the important parts of the book for easy review in the future.

She put the paper on the table, ground it roughly, and then carefully opened the set of gold needles, recalling what she had just seen and writing it down, occasionally pulling out the gold needles to gesture.

Even though it has not been used for many years, the golden needle still shines brightly because Shen Lianxiu has kept it properly.

Zhou Linjin, who was standing next to him, had already smelled the scent of ink. After a while, he casually asked, "What are you writing?"

Chen Lianxiu stopped writing and said to him seriously, "I practiced calligraphy when I had nothing better to do. It's not a waste of my time in the library this morning."

She had originally planned not to tell Zhou Linjin that she had gone to the library to look for medical books. Firstly, Shen Wuyu did not have a background in medicine, and although she could make up a reason, it would be troublesome to explain to Zhou Linjin. Secondly, she was just looking for a book at the moment. She had not decided whether to treat his eyes, nor was she sure that she could cure him. It was better not to give him this hope, so as not to let him down in the future and to prevent him from worrying too much at the moment.

"You're quite studious," Zhou Linjin shook his head helplessly, his tone lacking any disgust. He added, "If I could see, I'd also like to see what you wrote." Chen Lianxiu pursed her lips and smiled. She took away the sheet she was writing on, replaced it with a new one, and began writing on it. As she wrote, she said, "You can't see what I'm writing, but I can test you."

"What do you want to test me on?" Zhou Linjin asked with interest.

Chen Lianxiu had already finished writing those few words. Since there was no one around and the door was closed, with only her and Zhou Linjin inside, she boldly held the paper in front of Zhou Linjin. To make sure he knew what she was doing, she even shook it in front of him twice, making the pages rustle. Before she spoke, she smiled and said, "Just a test. What did I write on it?"

There were only five words written on the piece of paper: I am Chen Lianxiu.

The handwriting is elegant and upright, as graceful as a lotus, just as its name suggests.

Unfortunately, Zhou Linjin couldn’t see it.

She let him watch with the intention of teasing, but without any malice, and there was a sense of pleasure that came from nowhere.

Zhou Linjin was not embarrassed or angry. He raised the corner of his lips slightly, raised his hand and took the paper from her hand lightly.

A very light sandalwood scent wafted into my nose, perhaps because I was close to her, or perhaps because the paper was also stained with her scent.

Chen Lianxiu was afraid that Zhou Linjin would take the paper outside to find someone to identify it, so she became anxious and bent down to reach the paper and tear it up, but Zhou Linjin seemed to have expected it and immediately raised his hand.

"I can't see it, so I took it away." Zhou Linjin said quietly. The ink had dried at this time, and he slowly folded it up. "I can't see it, and no one else can see it."

As he said that, he slowly walked to the inner room and fiddled with it for a while. When he came out, the paper was no longer in his hand. Chen Lianxiu didn't know where he had taken it.

After he sat down there again and started drinking tea, Shen Lianxiu continued to take notes quietly.

As spring deepens and the days become warmer, the grass grows and the birds fly.

***

After that, Chen Lianxiu went there almost every day at the same time in the morning and came back an hour later. When she came back, there was still some time before dinner, so she could quickly write down the key points. During this time, Zhou Linjin would sometimes accompany her in the outer room and sometimes in the study.

It's strange to say, although they went there at the same time, the maid who appeared on the first day never showed up again. Maybe she knew that Chen Lianxiu always came at this time and was afraid of disturbing her, so she changed the time to clean.

It is really rainy this year. Summer is about to come, but it suddenly starts raining again. It doesn't stop for days on end. It is wet everywhere, just like the plum rain season in the south, hot and humid.

When he woke up that morning, the sky was overcast, with thick dark clouds gathering together. Just as Chen Lianxiu arrived at the library, muffled thunder was heard in the distance.

She felt a little regretful for a moment. When she went out today, she hesitated for a while whether to come over. However, Zhou Linjin went to the study, and she was bored alone, so she came anyway.

It would be troublesome if it rained heavily.

To make matters worse, when she and her maid arrived at the library, they heard thunder and realized they had forgotten to bring an umbrella.

The maidservant was even more anxious than her, fearing that they would both be trapped by the rain, and hurried to get an umbrella.

Chen Lianxiu originally thought about not going back with her, but since they were already there, and thunderstorms come and go quickly, the rain might stop in an hour, so she agreed to let the maid go get an umbrella first.

She also said to her maid, "If it rains heavily after you take your umbrella, don't rush over. If it starts to rain halfway, find a place to hide quickly to avoid getting wet and catching a cold. Wait until the rain stops. I'm reading here and won't get wet, so there's no need to rush."

The maid responded and walked out.

Who knew that what she said was right? Just as I was about to return to Zhuoxinzhai, there was a loud thunder and heavy rain poured down.

At this point, Chen Lianxiu was no longer in a hurry. Since they were trapped here by the rain anyway, they just read as usual.

She took the book she hadn't finished reading yesterday, sat down at the desk, lit the candle on the candlestick, and it wasn't dark enough to read.

Just after turning a page, a strong wind suddenly blew from somewhere and blew open the window behind Shen Lianxiu on the left.

The wind mixed with rain rushed in, making the candlelight sway and about to go out. Chen Lianxiu hurriedly got up to close the window. After finally closing the window, her body was already wet, and even her face was covered with raindrops.

Chen Lianxiu sat back at the desk and found that the candle had gone out. She sighed, took out a handkerchief to wipe the water off her face, and was about to relight the candle when she suddenly heard footsteps coming from between the layers of bookshelves not far away.

Because it was raining heavily outside, he couldn't hear clearly. Shen Lianxiu listened carefully again and found that it seemed to be footsteps.

The maidservant who came with her today was named Luzhu. Chen Lianxiu thought it was Luzhu who had returned in the rain, so she called out, "Luzhu, is that you? Why are you here in such heavy rain?"

There was no response.

But the footsteps continued and came closer.

Chen Lianxiu became alert. She stood up and asked again, "Lüzhu?"

Still no one answered.

In the huge library, a person whose identity she didn't know was approaching her.

Chen Lianxiu wanted to hide in the middle of the bookshelf, but it was too late. The other party had already noticed that she had discovered him, and his steps suddenly became hurried. Besides, he was not far away to begin with, and he was in front of her in a few steps.

In the dim light, she could only vaguely see the other person's figure, it was a man, and then the man's hot breath sprayed on her face.

Chen Lianxiu recognized him almost instantly. This person couldn't be Zhou Linjin.

"Are you lonely here, sister-in-law?" The other party didn't mean to hide it and eagerly threw himself on Shen Lianxiu, "I'll keep you company."

It’s Zhou Linyu!

Shen Lianxiu barely avoided him and couldn't help but yelled, "Why are you here?"

Ever since Zhou Chang found an official position for Zhou Linyu, even though it was a sinecure, he pretended to report for duty every day. Today was not a day off, so he should not be here.

Chen Lianxiu wanted to escape, but there was a wall behind her, and while she was speaking, she was trapped against the wall by Zhou Linyu.

"It's better not to go to that kind of place. My uncle is the Duke of Cheng, who dares to control me?" Zhou Linyu smiled. "You thought I went out, but in fact I usually meet my beauty in the library. You ruined my good thing. My beauty is not coming. I've been bored for several days. You have to compensate me."

Zhou Linyu had been waiting here for quite some time, but there was always a maidservant by Chen Lianxiu's side. Although the maidservant might go out in the middle of the trip, he didn't know when she would come back. Moreover, there were few people near the library, and it was not entirely untouched. He didn't dare to touch her rashly.

But today is a rare opportunity, it is raining outside and there is no one around her.

Chen Lianxiu then remembered the maid she saw on the first day. She said she was cleaning the house, but she hadn't seen her since then. The maid was also acting in a panic at the time. Now that she thought about it, it was she who caught Zhou Linyu and the maid having a tryst!

Seeing that she had been trapped by him, Zhou Linyu was no longer anxious and said, "I've been staring at you for a long time, but you didn't notice me."

Shen Lianxiu felt a chill run down her body. Goose bumps appeared all over her body when she thought about this person looking at her from somewhere while she was reading.

She opened her mouth and spat at him.

Zhou Linyu wiped his face and licked it in his mouth: "How sweet! My brother is really useless. He can't even see such a beauty. What do you think he knows? I heard that you and him haven't consummated your marriage yet. Is he not capable?"

Recently, Yang had been in poor health, so Wu had handed over most of the household affairs to Little Wu. The servants became distracted, and rumors began to spread about things that should not have been known to anyone, at least reaching the ears of the second wife.

Shen Lianxiu gritted his teeth: "Let me go!"

As she spoke, she tried to struggle out, but Zhou Linyu would never let her go. He grabbed one of her wrists and pressed her against the wall.

Chen Lianxiu struggled harder and harder, and Zhou Linyu couldn't completely control her for a moment. Seeing her rain-soaked clothes sticking to her body, her graceful and delicate figure was looming, his heart was burning with anger: "You're quite strong..."

However, before he could finish his words, he suddenly felt a dull pain on his forehead.

Chen Lianxiu had just hurriedly grabbed the extinguished candlestick in his hand, and now, taking advantage of Zhou Linyu's unpreparedness, he smashed it on the head with all his strength.

Zhou Linyu felt the pain and subconsciously let her go. When he touched the painful spot, he found his hand covered in blood. When he looked at Chen Lianxiu again, she had taken advantage of this moment to escape, still holding the candlestick tightly in her hand.

If we let her go out and talk nonsense, that would be disastrous!

Zhou Linyu wiped the blood off his head and immediately chased after him despite the pain.

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From today until the end, I will update daily, and I have enough drafts in reserve [erect ears rabbit head]